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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
4.5 ⭐ CW: (provided by the author) violence, human sacrifice, border walls, self-sacrifice, sexual violence, blood, death of parents, death of a child, misgendering, bigotry, self-harm mention, rape mention, C-section mention
No Man of Woman Born by Ana Mardoll is a collection of Rewoven Tales that centers trans and nonbinary people in the fairytales. Every single MC is trans/nonbinary, and all seek to subvert the gendered prophecy trope.
I love the idea of trans people mucking people's prophesies and expectations. We get to see someone's gender affirmed by a gendered prophecy, someone's gender defy a prophecy (gotta love a gender loophole), and we get to see someone question their gender and learn that they don't have to know right away. We get plenty of neopronouns, and the author was kind of enough to provide pronunciation guides for them.
These were fun, short reads and refreshing in their content. So much trans joy. Half a star docked only because most of the stories were very similar to each other with only a few details changed, but it doesn't change how much I loved them all!
No Man of Woman Born by Ana Mardoll is a collection of Rewoven Tales that centers trans and nonbinary people in the fairytales. Every single MC is trans/nonbinary, and all seek to subvert the gendered prophecy trope.
I love the idea of trans people mucking people's prophesies and expectations. We get to see someone's gender affirmed by a gendered prophecy, someone's gender defy a prophecy (gotta love a gender loophole), and we get to see someone question their gender and learn that they don't have to know right away. We get plenty of neopronouns, and the author was kind of enough to provide pronunciation guides for them.
These were fun, short reads and refreshing in their content. So much trans joy. Half a star docked only because most of the stories were very similar to each other with only a few details changed, but it doesn't change how much I loved them all!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Deadnaming, Violence, Death, and Child death
Minor: Rape and Ableism
violet_pages's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Ableism, and Child death
Minor: Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Self harm
booksthatburn's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
No Man of Woman Born by is a fantastic and much needed collection of short stories about prophecies, expectations, and societal assumptions.
My absolute favorite is "Early To Rise", it was a refreshing retelling of a story I already know and yet I was blown away. The author did a fantastic job with that one in particular. I also love the titular story, "No Man of Woman Born". I love how it's more about the character's self-reflection in reference to the prophecy, making it feel like that story in particular continues after this snippet is over. A few of the stories had predictable twists, but I still loved them even when I wasn't surprised. I spend a lot of time thinking about pronouns, presentation, and gender expectations, so your mileage may vary on whether you see the endings coming. Just seeing this many subversive ways for gender-based prophecies to be fulfilled was a treat. The collection feels cohesive, and even though all the stories are about different ideas of gender no two solutions were alike. There's quite a bit of darkness there but it's handled with care in everything from the phrasing to the perspectives to putting CWs for individual chapters.
Definitely check this one out, it's a great collection of much-needed stories; may there be many more like it.
My absolute favorite is "Early To Rise", it was a refreshing retelling of a story I already know and yet I was blown away. The author did a fantastic job with that one in particular. I also love the titular story, "No Man of Woman Born". I love how it's more about the character's self-reflection in reference to the prophecy, making it feel like that story in particular continues after this snippet is over. A few of the stories had predictable twists, but I still loved them even when I wasn't surprised. I spend a lot of time thinking about pronouns, presentation, and gender expectations, so your mileage may vary on whether you see the endings coming. Just seeing this many subversive ways for gender-based prophecies to be fulfilled was a treat. The collection feels cohesive, and even though all the stories are about different ideas of gender no two solutions were alike. There's quite a bit of darkness there but it's handled with care in everything from the phrasing to the perspectives to putting CWs for individual chapters.
Definitely check this one out, it's a great collection of much-needed stories; may there be many more like it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, Blood, Ableism, Death, and Child death
Minor: Self harm and Sexual assault
The index has CWs for each story individually (which is such a great move for a short story collection), but here are the CWs for all the stories combined: violence, sexualized violence, bloodshed, community ableism, sacrificial victims, self-sacrifice, border walls, population purges, mention of self-harm, death of family, death of child, misgendering, parental bigotry, magical curses, non-consensual kissing, governmental oppression, mention of emergency cesarean births, mention of rape.
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